Ken Burns & The National Parks: America's Greatest Idea

by Tom Gallagher

NCR Today

Brilliant filmmaker, Ken Burns, and his colleague Dayton Duncan, and their team have done it again. Their documentary on the U.S. national parks is outstanding. Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature’s most spectacular locales, "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea," is a six-part, 12-hour documentary series on the history of America’s national parks.

The documentary is described thusly: "This is a story of people — rich and poor, famous and unknown, soldiers and scientists, natives and newcomers, idealists, artists and entrepreneurs — who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved and in doing so, reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy."

The Los Angeles Times provided an excellent review of the series.

One snippet from the review: "Here, the parks are presented not just as places of beauty and refuge but as the soul-saving antidote to the ruthless nature of capitalism and American ambition. Which is certainly true."